Civica UK Limited

Civica Pensions UPM (Universal Pensions Management)

UPM is the leading multi-channel platform designed to meet both member and employer administration needs of public sector pension schemes (LGPS, Police, Firefighters). Powerful workflow transforms delivery of services by reducing administration, automating and streamlining business processes, providing integration capabilities whilst achieving agile ways of working, delivering savings and efficiencies.

Features

• An efficient and flexible repository for all pensions data
• Intelligent processes that can be managed by trained pensions staff
• An enterprise workflow and integration platform
• Automated LGPS, Police and Fire calculations
• Full integration of payroll, web, workflow, calculations and documents
• Employer portal, workflow and EDM capabilities
• Online retirement modellers for scheme members
• Case tracking and secure messaging for members online
• Portal enables members to transact via any device
• Extensive data validation tools

Benefits

• Deliver true channel-shift through member and employer self-service
• Scalable and flexible solution for single/multiple scheme administration
• Enforces, guides, automates and audits workflow & process
• Easy regression testing of full calculation suite against own data
• Reduce admin overhead by pushing admin tasks online
• Stringent security and audit facility
• Intuitive user experience
• Track processing trends and volumes to review service delivery
• Easy to access MI via dashboards e.g. performance, throughout
• Integration framework enables flexible third party integration options

£195 a user a year

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

• Modern Slavery statement

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at g-cloud@civica.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.

Framework

G-Cloud 13

Service ID

175643661370033

Contact

Civica UK Limited
+44 (0) 3333 214 914
g-cloud@civica.co.uk

Service scope

• Software add-on or extension: No
• Cloud deployment model:
  • Public cloud
  • Private cloud
• Service constraints: Access to UPM is available on a 24 x 7 basis. Planned maintenance windows, when the service will be unavailable, will be agreed with the customer, with updates usually being within standard working hours. Customers can agree out of hours updates at an additional charge. Civica will agree with customers a notice period where possible of scheduled maintenance tasks.
• System requirements: This will be scoped as part of the contract mobilisation

User support

• Email or online ticketing support: Email or online ticketing
• Support response times: "The severity of the call will determine the maximum response time; The severity is set by the criteria below: ; ; 1. Business Critical; 2. Major Operational; 3. Minor Operational; 4. Inconvenience; 5. System not impeded; ; The support desk will provide an initial response to all support calls as follows - ; ; Severity 1 - Within 60 minutes of logging the call with Civica; Severity 2 - Within 3 hours; Severity 3 - Within 9 hours; Severity 4 - Within 18 hours; Severity 5 - Within 18 hours; ; The support desk is open between the hours of 8.00am to 6.00pm Monday to Friday."
• User can manage status and priority of support tickets: No
• Phone support: Yes
• Phone support availability: 9 to 5 (UK time), Monday to Friday
• Web chat support: No
• Onsite support: Yes, at extra cost
• Support levels: Civica will respond to application related incidents as below and will take all reasonable steps to achieve a resolution within target timescales. Civica will respond to incidents relating to availability of cloud services in an accelerated timeframe: Level 1 - 2 working hours - 1 working day. Level 2 - 2 working hours - 5 working days. Level 3 - 2 working hours - 30 working days. Level 4 - 2 working hours - 60 working days. Level 5 – TBA. The Support Desk can be contacted via the email, online or telephone. Tickets are logged in a Service Management tool which creates an individual record and unique reference. Incidents are allocated a Severity based on information provided.; Standard SLA:; ; Non-Payroll Ticket; Severity Target Response Target Fix; ; 1 1 working hour 4 working hours; 2 2 working hours 1 working hour; 3 2 working hours 5 working days; 4 7 working hours Case-by-case basis; 5 7 working hours Case-by-case basis; ; For Payroll Tickets; Severity Target Response Target Fix; 1 1 Working Hour 4 Working Hours; 2 1 Working Hour 1 Working Day; 3 2 Working Hours 5 Working Days; 4 2 Working Hours 30 Working Days; 5 N/A Case-by-case basis
• Support available to third parties: Yes

Onboarding and offboarding

• Getting started: Civica offers a complete range of training services for UPM and will conduct a Training Needs Analysis with new customers prior to commencing the training programme. Training is provided on-site at the customer premises with the equipment agreed in advance. All training documentation is provided by Civica. Staff are trained to enable them to update, change and build upon the solution implemented using the tool sets provided.; ; Civica’s standard training schedule has the flexibility to be tailored to add additional services if required. It is structured to provide practise time during the training, with sessions held at a suitable time apart to allow for information gathering and set-up. Each course includes practise time and runs from 10:00 to 16:00.; ; The specific methods used are agreed at the outset of the project including:; ● Classroom training held at the customer’s premises or in one of Civica’s dedicated training facilities.; ● Use of customised training environment, configuration and data set to allow the training to be based on the customer’s specific implementation of the solution.; ● Some eLearning materials distributed using external media or the internet.; ● Shorter training courses can be delivered via Teams.
• Service documentation: Yes
• Documentation formats:
  • HTML
  • PDF
• End-of-contract data extraction: All service customer data and member/employer user accounts are stored in an industry standard proprietary relational database on a storage platform appropriate to the solution.; All service customer generated data is returned to the customer. This is held in three possible places of the system within the:; • Live database and active directory; • Backup on the primary site; • Secondary disaster recovery database and active directory.; All service customer data and user accounts shall be supplied to the customer using the export format of the industry standard proprietary relational database.; Where data is held within the Active Directory of the solution this shall be exported in a pre-defined format.; These files of data are compressed and transferred via a secure courier using either removable disk or optical media (encrypted as appropriate) to the customer's Primary admin contact address which must be within the UK. The costs for this are determined on a case by case basis and shall be dependent upon the amount of data, media extracted to and security level required.; Civica shall destroy all live and backup copies of the data within our control and provide written confirmation to the customer that this has been performed.
• End-of-contract process: Following completion of a service termination form an exit plan will be agreed including data extract arrangements.

Using the service

• Web browser interface: Yes
• Supported browsers:
  • Microsoft Edge
  • Firefox
  • Chrome
• Application to install: Yes
• Compatible operating systems: Windows
• Designed for use on mobile devices: Yes
• Differences between the mobile and desktop service: The desktop version is for pensions administrators and employers. The member portal is accessible on mobile devices.
• Service interface: Yes
• User support accessibility: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Description of service interface: Civica provides a service interface for performing all tasks within the system. Access is controlled by User Permissions, which define the modules that users can access and the tasks they can perform.; Civica provide public access to the system via web portals for members and employers; this is controlled by specific user names and passwords.
• Accessibility standards: WCAG 2.1 AA or EN 301 549
• Accessibility testing: NA
• API: Yes
• What users can and can't do using the API: Dependant on application/module
• API documentation: Yes
• API documentation formats: PDF
• API sandbox or test environment: No
• Customisation available: Yes
• Description of customisation: UPM is a highly configurable software product to meet the complex administration needs of public sector schemes and a diverse range of business processes. The security and access rights are entirely customisable, ensuring only the right people can access the right data. At a scheme/member level, the service has ample configuration to allow buyers to customise the solution to meet specific requirements and extra fields for example. As well as this, the incumbent process map editor ensures users are using and taking the right steps and procedures of any process by building the process map within our own internal editor allowing all buyers (where they are a system administrator) to customise and define their own processes to meet any level of business requirements. In addition to this, user level configuration is also available in order for standard users to customise the service should that person have accessibility issues such as colour blindness for example. User level configuration is available to all users to enhance their experience of using the service and also can be used to bring forward prevalent areas of the system dependent on the user's role.

Scaling

• Independence of resources: The service is backed by Azure and we make best use of the Azure Services, for instance geographically replaced databases, app service scaling, to make sure the system handles varying loads and demands.; Application insights and real time monitoring is used to both alert and tune service performance.

Analytics

• Service usage metrics: No

Resellers

• Supplier type: Not a reseller

Staff security

• Staff security clearance: Other security clearance
• Government security clearance: Up to Developed Vetting (DV)

Asset protection

• Knowledge of data storage and processing locations: Yes
• Data storage and processing locations: United Kingdom
• User control over data storage and processing locations: No
• Datacentre security standards: Complies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)
• Penetration testing frequency: At least once a year
• Penetration testing approach: Another external penetration testing organisation
• Protecting data at rest: Other
• Other data at rest protection approach: Physical access control, complying with ISO27001
• Data sanitisation process: Yes
• Data sanitisation type: Deleted data can’t be directly accessed
• Equipment disposal approach: Complying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data importing and exporting

• Data export approach: As part of this framework, Civica have a number of utilities where in the case that the user wants to extract documents and data out of UPM, then these utilities will achieve this. The utility to be used will be dependent upon whether the user is wanting to export data for a low number of members, or an entire scheme. There are utilities that will encrypt the data upon extraction if this is required (such as when sending to our helpdesk to replicate issues), and there are utilities that allow the user to configure the format of the output.
• Data export formats: CSV
• Data import formats: Other
• Other data import formats:
  • Fixed Length
  • XML

Data-in-transit protection

• Data protection between buyer and supplier networks: Other
• Other protection between networks: As we are a cloud service we typically avoid any need to transfer data between networks. All communication is on secure channels and goes through web application firewalls. Where transfers are required (for instance file transfer), these are mandated over secure channels and is only accessible to specific users of the system.
• Data protection within supplier network: Other
• Other protection within supplier network: Microsoft Defender is utilised for the scanning and storage of transient files where they are required for use within the application.

Availability and resilience

• Guaranteed availability: Civica’s standard core hours are 7am-7pm, Monday to Friday (excluding UK Bank holidays). Access to the service (remote access to data centre, domain names, network connections, IP addresses, hosted software and equipment) during core hours will have an uptime availability of 99.99%
• Approach to resilience: Available on request.
• Outage reporting: Infrastructure related scheduled maintenance will not occur between 07:00 and 19:00 Monday to Friday excluding English Bank Holidays. Maintenance will be arranged with a minimum of 3 working days’ notice, and will include a detailed description of the planned works, planned outcomes, and a detailed back-out plan, unless otherwise stated.; Unplanned outages will be notified via the Civica Service Desk.

Identity and authentication

• User authentication needed: Yes
• User authentication: Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
• Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels: Azure platform is locked down to specific IP and AD accounts
• Access restriction testing frequency: At least once a year
• Management access authentication:
  • 2-factor authentication
  • Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
  • Dedicated link (for example VPN)

Audit information for users

• Access to user activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long user audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• Access to supplier activity audit information: Users have access to real-time audit information
• How long supplier audit data is stored for: At least 12 months
• How long system logs are stored for: User-defined

Standards and certifications

• ISO/IEC 27001 certification: Yes
• Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001: Alcumus ISOQAR
• ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date: 06/10/2020
• What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t cover: NA
• ISO 28000:2007 certification: No
• CSA STAR certification: No
• PCI certification: No
• Cyber essentials: Yes
• Cyber essentials plus: No
• Other security certifications: No

Security governance

• Named board-level person responsible for service security: Yes
• Security governance certified: Yes
• Security governance standards: ISO/IEC 27001
• Information security policies and processes: 9001, 14001, 22301, 45001

Operational security

• Configuration and change management standard: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Configuration and change management approach: All hosted assets metadata is stored in a Configuration Management Data Base. This data base is access controlled to authorised staff only. The CMDB provides information essential to the secure hosting of client critical services.
• Vulnerability management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Vulnerability management approach: Civica has vulnerability management processes in place for ISO27001 and PCI-DSS. These processes are externally audited on an annual basis to ensure continued compliance.; For external vulnerability scanning, Civica employs the services of an external ‘CHECK’ approved provider to perform an annual penetration test against the external management IP interface. Supporting this, Civica is also certified to the CESG approved Cyber Essentials scheme. For high value financial hosted system, Civica also maintains a PCI-DSS v3.1 certification. In scope systems are subject to month internal and external vulnerability cans as well as a full penetration test twice a year.
• Protective monitoring type: Supplier-defined controls
• Protective monitoring approach: Civica take a proactive approach to information security through a process of continual monitoring and review. As part of a documented risk assessment methodology to identify and manage information security risks a dedicated security team update the risk register monthly.; Civica has a network monitoring solution in place ‘OpsView’ as well as a full antivirus and anti-malware solution. These technologies check the hosted services for errors, infections and unexpected network traffic and are support by Cisco IPS/IDS at the perimeter layer. This monitoring service provides defence in depth, against compromise, by detecting infections and suspicious networking activity within the environment.
• Incident management type: Conforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Incident management approach: Civica have developed an Incident Management process (PRM07) under ISO 20000 standards which details both the Incident and Service Request Management processes.; The Civica Service Desk manages end user Service Requests, Incidents and Requests for Change (RFCs) which can be logged by e-mail, telephone and web portal.; Monthly customer reports will detail incident information.

Secure development

• Approach to secure software development best practice: Independent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Public sector networks

• Connection to public sector networks: No

Social Value

• Fighting climate change:

  Fighting climate change

  Civica’s Environment and Social Governance (ESG) committee provides focus for ongoing development and implementation of our environmental policy, supported by our ISO 14001 standard. We commit to working with staff, customers, suppliers, contractors and partners to recognise and reduce our environmental impact. Simultaneously we’re optimising our services to support environmental and community initiatives. ; ; We support fighting climate change by: ; ; - Helping employees reduce their environmental footprint at work. Initiatives include: recycling facilities across our offices, single use plastic reduction, timer switches for office devices, cistern water saving devices, installing LED lighting when refreshing offices, WEEE recycling all hardware, print reduction, phone and printer cartridge recycling, FSC certified paper; weekly employee communications encouraging and advising employees on positive approaches to reduce carbon. Employees have carbon saving benefits such as cycle to work scheme. ; ; - Socially responsible purchasing, sustainable procurement, reduced consumption. ; ; - Selecting suppliers, goods and services that demonstrate sustainable, socially responsible, ethically sound standards. ; ; - Leading by example via activities such as: reducing single use plastic consumption by 70% within the next 5 years; prioritising use of green energy; promoting recycling through ‘Zero to Landfill’ and ‘Zero Print’ schemes; working towards carbon neutrality with workforces and facilities over the next 10-years. ; ; - Creating software with sustainability in built in; net-zero is a key theme in our product roadmaps. ; ; - Partnering customers to co-create public services fit for the future. Civica's NorthStar innovation lab creates physical and virtual opportunities to jointly explore trends and technologies supporting customers Net Zero ambitions. ; ; - Meeting/exceeding environmental legislation through ISO audits. ; ; We have a Carbon Reduction Plan and commitment to achieve Net Zero by 2040 (latest). We are reviewing our energy mix, materials we use and working with partners to begin to plant a ‘Civica Forest’ whilst maintaining awareness of the Greenwashing issue.
• Covid-19 recovery:

  Covid-19 recovery

  In the spring of 2020, Civica were an early signatory to the C-19 Business Pledge. We focused on safeguarding our people and communities and ensuring the successful ongoing provision of our business-critical software and services. ; ; Supporting customers: Alongside business as usual for our customers, we have worked hard to support the national and local level response through practical, innovative and updated software capability. We have delivered a range of new capabilities quickly, such as those listed below, and continue to provide system advice, configuration and data insights to ensure effective action. ; ; - COVID-19 App (the first of its kind in the UK and Ireland) was developed and launched with the Northern Ireland Department of Health, and helped reduce the pressure on the 111 helpline. ; ; - Developed local track and trace solution for London Borough of Redbridge, enabling it to support localised contact tracing/escalations. ; ; - Community Helper software - built on the iCasework platform to help local authorities co-ordinate rapid support for vulnerable people while minimising safeguarding risks. ; ; - Our Trac e-recruitment software was used to help NHS recruiters get the right candidates into posts quickly and fast-track DBS checks. ; ; - Supporting social housing tenants - assisted teams to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants. ; ; - Supporting Revenues and Benefits teams - software solutions for the two largest UK government measures, Business Rates Grant fund and the Council Tax Hardship fund. ; ; Supporting employees: We proactively provide guidance and support for our people, from keeping remote workers engaged, to our mental health champions and free-to-access Employee Assistance programme. We have adopted a blended working model enabling colleagues to work safely and flexibly at various locations and hub offices, enhanced how we communicate, and continue to look for new ways to share ideas and inspiration.
• Tackling economic inequality:

  Tackling economic inequality

  Create opportunities for entrepreneurship and help organisations to grow. Civica is committed to working with its customers to deliver value into the community by supporting young people, developing skills and mentoring businesses to attract inward investment and growth that brings with it employment and skills. ; ; We support innovation through our NorthStar innovation lab, a company-wide initiative focused on enhanced client outcomes by applying fresh ideas on data, automation and new technologies. We work with our customers to co-create public services that are fit for today and for the future. Our Civica NorthStar innovation lab creates physical and virtual opportunities for us to jointly explore trends and technologies. ; ; Create employment and training opportunities ; ; Civica is a member of the 5% Club, and aims to have 5% of its UK work force as either apprentices, graduates or work experience students by the end of 2025. We employ apprentices and graduates into a number of different disciplines and locations, with a focus on ensuring they are long term employees of Civica. ; ; Support educational attainment ; ; Learning and development is at the core of the Civica Quality Management Framework. We believe in investing in our people and are proud of our Investors in People Gold accreditation and in being a top rated Glassdoor Employer. ; ; We run our own Civica Academy for employee development and skills enhancement, which delivered over 220,000 hours of training during 2021. We provide our own apprenticeship programme (team leader level 3) for our aspiring and current managers that are considered stars of the future. ; ; We are working on building some new apprenticeship standards such as the UX degree apprenticeship. This will benefit not only Civica’s Digital Team but all companies and customers that need UX talent.
• Equal opportunity:

  Equal opportunity

  Civica is a 2022 Financial Times Diversity Leader and is ‘Gold’ Investors in People accredited, demonstrating our commitment to promoting equal opportunity by tackling inequality in employment, skills and pay in our workforce. We proactively implement equal opportunities for employment and personal development among diverse groups and local areas, and ensure rights for all staff are always protected. This is led by our Group Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) team, championed by our CEO who is also our Chief Diversity Sponsor. The strategy and policy manages: ; ; - Interview training, focusing on unconscious bias/equal opportunity. ; ; - Anonymising CVs and ensuring interview panels represent minority groups. ; ; - Using a decoder to ensure job advertisements use gender and culturally neutral language. ; ; - Attracting/recruiting from minority backgrounds/disadvantaged groups across the organisation, especially into under-represented areas. ; ; - Advertising vacancies in a wide variety of places and diversity/disability portals (including; BME jobs, Disability jobs and LGBT job sites), to increase gender diversity and ethnicity. ; ; - Company-wide Diversity & Inclusion network, including affinity groups relating to under-represented groups. ; ; - Mandatory Diversity & Inclusion training for all staff. ; ; - Pay equity reviews addressing inequality and UK gender pay gap. ; ; - Flexible Working to encourage higher uptake for women, working parents and disabled groups. ; ; - Partner with a social innovator company to help recruit and support employees with Autism Spectrum Disorder. ; ; We gather and analyse data on our performance from regular surveys such as ENPS, IIP, Pulse survey, employee engagement surveys. ; ; Our D&I team monitor the take-up, use and effectiveness of our measures, such as the number of new recruits from minority backgrounds, women, parents and diverse groups, and provide statistics for our Annual Review on performance against targets. For example, we report on the number of people attending training sessions and the split of male to female attendees.
• Wellbeing:

  Wellbeing

  Civica actively promote a mentally healthy workplace and workforce through our 40+ Mental Health Champions (MHC) and our ‘Health and Wellbeing’ policy, encouraging a flexible and realistic work/life balance. We integrate mental health and general wellbeing in all that we do from recruitment and ‘First Impressions’ to appraisals and strategic management. ; ; Our ‘Health and Wellbeing’ policy and programme for all employees provide a foundation to support both the mental and physical health of our staff. Examples include: ; ; - Employee Assistance Programme and online Wellbeing Hub, which provides 24/7 access to websites, e-mail, phone and face-to-face counselling on all personal issues. ; ; - Aviva DigiCare+ Workplace App providing external mental health consultancy. ; ; - Mental Health Champions who support colleagues’ wellbeing in the workplace. ; ; - RedArc Personal nurse service. ; ; - Management Coaching - managers are trained in GROW (Goals, Reality, Options and Will) and in being Health and Wellbeing Advisors, supporting employees with mental/physical health needs. ; ; - Health assessments/advice aimed at improving physical health. ; ; - Cycle to Work scheme to aid physical and mental health. ; ; - Weekly fruit drop for offices, encouraging a healthier diet. ; ; - We provide free eye tests for all VDU users, encourage staff to take advantage of NHS flu vaccinations services, and support people wishing to use the NHS Stop Smoking Service. ; ; We also support our customers’ and communities’ physical and mental wellbeing through: Employee ‘Donate-a-Day’ to local charities; Local events organised through “Charity Champions”; Directors providing guidance to local community health and wellbeing projects; Supporting social housing tenants to re-focus resources and provide vital support to tenants. ; ; Suppliers/subcontractors are subject to Civica’s Sub-contractor Selection Process as defined in our ISO9001 Quality Management System, which includes criteria for assessing health and wellbeing policies and their promotion.

Pricing

• Price: £195 a user a year
• Discount for educational organisations: No
• Free trial available: No

Service documents

• Pricing document

  PDF

• Skills Framework for the Information Age rate card

  PDF

• Service definition document

  PDF

• Terms and conditions

  PDF

• Modern Slavery statement

  PDF

Request an accessible format

If you use assistive technology (such as a screen reader) and need versions of these documents in a more accessible format, email the supplier at g-cloud@civica.co.uk. Tell them what format you need. It will help if you say what assistive technology you use.